On the day of the 15 of august in the year 1309, there was a birth that
would change the history for the great Kingdom of Dacot. Born into no
convenience or great wealth, this boy is nothing of great note to the
King, who would one day feel his cold blade through his flesh. The boy
is now a stable hand in the Kings Stables. He is the lowliest of
servants sleeping on a hay mattress, dreaming of is next meal of thin
soup with worms for protein. He has managed to survive seven and three
quarter years. This is where his legend begins.
Today is the naming day for all those born in the last 10 years. Today
children as old as 9 or even 10 will finally have their own name. It is
a day of great importance to the small boy off in the stables, who has
been called " boy" or " street rat" his whole life. Today is the day he
gets something of his very own. Being born into a family of servants
to the King is not the worst of fates for most, but to this boy it is
the worst thing that has ever happened in the world. Some cosmic break
happened that august 15 that made him a slave to the whims of an ever
crueler tyrant.
" I'm finally going to have a name, Berta!" says the stable hand to his
beloved horse. "After almost eight years! A name! No one is ever going
to call me street rat again! Never!"
The other workers that were working around the stables were smiling at
the boy for his joy. Most were wearing the browns and grays of the
castles servants. Others wore brighter colors such as blue or even a
rare maroon. All wore the heavy boots of the King's Stable's.
As he says this, the block master walks in to The Stables. He has a weak
grin on his face. He knows this is the end of his amusement with THIS
one.
"Hey!" He shouts to the boy. At this the boy jumps and lands with his
foot in horse manure. "That's what you get for not doing your job.
Serves you right anyway being late to your own naming ceremony" He
says, with the tight mouth and unkind eyes the boy has become accustom
to.
But today the boy has no time for being sheepish under his master's
glare. He has a naming to get to. The boy runs to the square at the
heart of the city. He made it to the square in two minutes flat. Still
breathing heavily, he climbed the creaking wooden steps to the
platform.
"Today is a day of great importance!" cried the announcer. "This day is
the day the future King will be named!" and an applause rung through
out the square. "Today these children," making a sweeping gesture
towards the large throng of children now on the platform." will be
named!"
The same shrill applause rung through the large square and into the
boy's ear. He was so excited that he didn't even notice that the girl
next to him was holding his nose and looking at him as if he had just
made a rude sound.
As the naming went on the boy only half heard the names being called, to
busy looking around the square. He noticed things he was always too
busy to notice before. Always rushing around, he'd had no time to
notice to livery of the season. It was mid- spring and the shopkeepers
had a large assortment of fruits and vegetables, the flower maids, as
they were called, had many different colored blossoms.
Looking into the crowed he saw people of many different social
standings, the King in his throne on the end of the platform, The proud
father in the front waiting for his son to be called The court nobles
in the back talking politics with each other, The old maid, come to see
the Prince be named and the boys with the mangy mutt playing fetch,
with many others filling the spaces. All come to see the naming.
The boy waited for hours to be called, he didn't know what order they
were going. He did notice that the ones with the colorful cloths where
getting fewer by the minute. Oh well, it shouldn't be long now, the boy
thought. I should be called soon. But as the hours wore on and the
light began to fade from the sky, he began to wonder if his turn would
ever come. Just as he had finished that thought, he was called out of
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